Castellucci

Military Spouse of Year online voting March 7

Concert series starts July 3 at Convention Hall

CAPE MAY — Jes-sica Manfre has been named Coast Guard Spouse of the Year.

Last month, Man-fre, who set up a food pantry at Coast Guard Training Cen-ter Cape May during the partial govern-ment shutdown, was named spouse of the year for Coast Guard Dis-trict 5, covering the Mid-

Atlantic area from New Jersey to South Carolina.

She continues to be in the running for the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year award in conjunc-tion with Military Spouses magazine.

It was with 1,200

Castellucci new superintendent of LCMR

Weinberg, Staples, Stylistics,Drifters will play Cape May

Lower elementary district programs deal with adverse experiencesSchools addressing childhood trauma

By JACK FICHTERCape May Star and Wave

ERMA — Joseph Castel-lucci will replace Chris-topher Kobik as super-intendent of the Lower Cape May Regional School District when Kobik retires June 30.

Castellucci is the dis-trict’s director of curricu-lum and instruction. He said he started with the dis-trict in 1996 as an assistant principal at the high school. After a year, he assumed

the position of principal, a position he held for 17 years. Castellucci has been director of curriculum and instruction for seven years.

“I hope to continue the vision that Mr. Kobik set to propel the district forward as we have done, provide the best education for all of our students,” he said.

Castellucci said he want-ed motivate students to at-tend four-year colleges and those who want to pursue vocations directly after high school.

“I want to make sure we do that in the most cost effi-cient management process because he have some budget challengers ahead of us,” he said.

The state is phas-ing out Adjustment Aid to districts with declining enroll-ment. The Lower Cape May Regional District stands to lose $6 million over the next seven years.

“I want to push the dis-

trict forward and continue the extra programs we’ve provided, keep the district relevant for the kids and a good place for our students to go to school,” Castellucci said.

Board of Educa-tion President Rich-

ard Hooyman said the se-lection of a superintendent was among the most signifi -

By JACK FICHTERCape May Star and Wave

CAPE MAY — The city announced its lineup of Wednesday night summer concerts at Convention Hall that includes legends from the 1950s through 1970s.

The season leads off with a double bill July 3 of Orleans and Pure Prairie League. Orleans had three big hits singles — “Still the One,” “Dance with Me” and “Love Takes Time.” The band was formed in Woodstock, N.Y., in 1972 by John Hall, brothers Lance and Larry Hoppen and Wells Kelly. “Still the One” was a top five hit and was used by ABC Television to premier a fall season and has been heard in commercials.

Pure Prairie League brings a country-rock sound well demonstrated by its classic hit “Amie” from the album “Two Lane Highway.” The famous album cover featured a Norman Rockwell picture from a 1927 Saturday Eve-ning Post cover featuring the old cowboy “Sad Luke.”

The dual-bill show is a fi rst for Convention Hall.

Max Weinberg, a super-star drummer who is part of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, a former bandleader and musical director for Conan O’Brien’s nightly show, comes to Convention Hall on July 10. He is pre-senting a format he calls a

“jukebox,” taking requests from the audience for his four-piece band from a cata-log of hundreds of classic rock songs. From Beatles to Bruce and the Rolling Stones to Steppenwolf, the band in-fuses these classics with the respect the songs deserve.

The last Jay and the Ameri-can’s concert at Convention Hall was a sellout. They are expected back at 8 p.m. July 17. Their hits include “Come a Little Bit Closer,” “Cara Mia,” “She Cried,” “Some En-chanted Evening” and “This

Magic Moment.” The group was part the Beatles’ first American tour in 1964, which also included the Righteous Brothers as well as playing with the Rolling Stones at Carnegie Hall.

Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone return to Cape May on July 24. The band’s many hits include “I’m Henry the VIII, I Am,” “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daugh-ter,” “I’m Into Something Good,” “Can’t You Hear My

By JACK FICHTERCape May Star and Wave

COLD SPRING — The modern classroom teacher must work with an increasing number of students who have experienced adverse childhood experiences, such as emotional and physical abuse, neglect, loss of a parent due to separation or divorce, or living with someone abusing al-cohol or drugs.

Carl T. Mitnick School Prin-cipal Chris Shivers said all the school districts in the county

were invited to attend three days of resiliency training last sum-mer. He said the Lower Township Elementary School District sent staff from each of the schools to the training. The information was then shared with all staff, Shivers said.

The district has implemented some strategies and techniques learned there into each of its schools, he said.

“There is an increased popu-lation of students that live in stressful family environments and have experienced some

type of trauma in their lifetime,” Shivers said. “As a result, this is impacting them not only socially and emotionally but impacting behavior and their ability to focus and learn.”

He said the training seminar provided a number of methods to counteract some negative child-hood experiences. The seminar covered adverse childhood ex-periences deemed as extremely stressful to a child, which can alter brain development as well as the immune system and in-crease the risk of lifelong health

and social problems in adulthood. “We want to provide these stu-

dents with positive role models and mentors and we were able to do that with several programs that we have implemented,” Shiv-ers said.

Teachers and guidance coun-selors identified students who would benefit from a program called “Check In-Check Out,” which partners a student with a role model at the school including teachers, security staff, guidance counselors and custodians, he said.

Shivers said the students check-in fi rst thing in the morn-ing and talk with their mentor to assess how they are feeling and sometimes set a goal for the day. In the afternoon, the students check-out and tell their mentor how their day went, how they are feeling and if they achieved their goal for the day.

A total of 23 students are par-ticipating in “Check In-Check-Out,” he said.

The school district has a re-

ProvidedMax Weinberg, a superstar drummer who is part of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, a former bandleader and direc-tor for Conan O’Brien’s nightly show, will play July 10.

See Castellucci, Page A4 See Spouse, Page A2

See Concert series, A5

See Schools, Page A2

165th YEAR NO. 10 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2019CAPE MAY, N.J. Serving America’s National Historic Landmark CityServing America’s National Historic Landmark CityServing America’s National Historic Landmark City

Houseof the week

Page B1

Mast displayhonors storied

USCG cutterOther Side, Page A6

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Chantel Semanchik/Special to the STAR AND WAVE

Time for snowshoes?Cape Island has had its share of rain and snow in the past week, but Cape May Carriage Co. horses Diesel and Queso don’t mind a bit of snow, according to their owners.

MANFRE